Saccharine outside, Raccoon inside.

Miri Country Music Fest was a one-day event in the past. Clearly, a day is not sufficient; the crowd demands more. Organized by Planet Conventions and Events Sdn Bhd, Miri Country Music Festival is going bigger next year.

This year (2016), Miri Country Music Fest (MCMF) was held on 27 February (Saturday) at Parkcity Everly Hotel, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. The venue has always been the same ever since MCMF’s successful inaugural event in 2014. Parkcity Everly Hotel (Miri) is also the main sponsor for this festival.

This year recorded a total of 2,740 festival goers, an increased of 30 per cent as compared to last year. Last year’s crowd was at 2,100. Next year, Planet Conventions and Events is targeting to attract more than 3,500 festival goers to the event.

This year (2016), Miri Country Music Fest was held on 27 February.

The beautiful Ruby Boots from Australia was one of the performers for Miri Country Music Festival 2016.

The lovely Ruby Boots performing at Miri Country Music Festival 2016 on February 27, in Parkcity Everly Hotel, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia.

Here’s a snippet of her performance on that wonderful night:

On stage are Leonard and the Country Riders (from Singapore).

A large promotional banner featuring the performers for this year’s MCMF

There were a few games booth for festival goers to enjoy. One of them has a mechanical bull.

One of the games booths offered an amusement ride – rodeo bull.

Everywhere I turned, there were happy faces. I love good vibes from the crowd.

Country music lovers, you won’t want to miss this event. It’s time to flaunt those Stetson hats and cowboy gears!

Performances are held at the pavilion of Parkcity Everly Hotel, Miri, Sarawak.

I bumped into this nice, lovely couple who have been Miri Country Music Festival goers since 2014.

I spoke to two avid festival goers about MCMF (Miri Country Music Festival). A beautiful lady who wishes to be identified as Madam Aren told me that she is happy that MCMF is being made into a two-day event instead of just one. She has been to all music festivals held in Miri and sometimes, other cities too. Madam Aren is planning to bring her 8-year old daughter to the MCMF next year. I am sure she will not be disappointed as next year’s event will have something for everyone, be they country music fans or anyone wanting to chill out with family and friends.

Another avid festival goer, Henry – a Dutch man who has been residing in Miri for a long time, suggests that coupon system (as substitute for cash) to be used for all transactions inside the event venue. He explained that coupon system can make transactions smoother and, it is beneficial to both festival goers and traders inside the event.

Planet Conventions and Events is planning to include more activities in the program to further enhance the festival goers’ experience at the event. This will include more stalls offering wide variety of food and beverages, arts and crafts, apparels and souvenirs and to organize competitions like burger eating contest, arm wrestling and many more.

There is also a plan to hold a Sunday-cook-out session on the second day of the festival. This is to encourage more visitors especially those with young children to spend the afternoon at the festival. That would be delightful, isn’t it?

Next year (2017), Miri Country Music Fest will be held on 25 and 26 of February.

To cater for the two days and increasing festival goers number, the organizer will be bringing in more international bands to entertain the crowd. Among those already short listed include bands from USA, Australia, Germany, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. There will be more local Malaysian bands taking the centre stage as well.

The festival concept would remain as in previous years, starting with festival bazaar and followed with music workshop before the concert begin in the evening. On Sunday, the concert will begin earlier so that the finale can end earlier. This is in consideration for festival goers who have to work the next day.

Tickets are priced at RM80 for one day and RM150 for two days for adult. For children between three to 12 years old, ticket is priced at RM40 for one day and RM70 for two days. All tickets include one drink.

At the moment, Planet Conventions and Events is offering the Big Bang Sale in which the tickets are priced at RM55 per day and RM100 for two days for adult, and RM35 and RM60 respectively for a child. The Big Bang Sale will last until 30th of September this year. After that date, tickets will be sold at normal price.

The forth edition of Miri Country Music Fest is endorsed by Miri City Council and supported by Sarawak Tourism Board, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts Sarawak and Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB). Rentak Sejuta, Southeast Asia’s largest dedicated award winning English language music news portal, is the online media partner. Those familiar with Rentak Sejuta would know that it is an independent online urban music news site covering music, performing arts, film, lifestyle, pop culture, urban fashion, photography, music tourism, travel, audiophile, consumer & professional tech.

The photo below was taken by Ms Chew Pei Pei during the MCMF 2017 press conference held on 27th June 2016 at Bakong Hall, Parkcity Everly Hotel, Miri.

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About Me and This Humble Blog

An artistically-inclined, multilingual Dayak lady with diverse interests currently living in Miri, Sarawak. This is a ‘masam manis’ (sweet and sour) distraction where she shares stuff such as arts and crafts, adventures, books, cars, events, her favorite things, occasional stints as performer, random musings, travel, etc.

Elena Wee is a pseudonym. Blog owner is a native of Borneo born in Miri. She is a homemaker (also, a wannabe thespian / writer) – married to a wonderful guy whose late paternal grandmother was a Melanau of Mukah origins, while his late paternal grandfather was a Chinese – surnamed Wee, who was the first Wee that established himself in Mukah, Sarawak before World War II.

Don't ever change yourself to impress someone, cause they should be impressed that you don't change to please others -- When you are going through something hard and wonder where God is, always remember that the teacher is always quiet during a test --- Unknown